Radioactive Water Leakage from Fukushima Dai-Ichi

Dec 5 - As much as 45,000 liters (11,870 gallons) of highly radioactive water leaked from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear station at the weekend and some may have reached the sea, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

Tepco said the leaked water contained 16,000 becquerels and 29,000 becquerels per liter of radioactive cesium 134 and 137 respectively. Those levels exceed government safety limits by 267 and 322 times, according to Bloomberg calculations.

The study by the French government-funded Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety said radioactive cesium that flowed into the sea from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant was 20 times the amount estimated by Tepco.

Prolonged exposure to high levels of radiation can cause leukemia and other forms of cancer, according to the World Nuclear Association.

As a student in an Intro. to Nuclear Tech. class, the one thing that I can be sure to hear about every lecture is Safety. Safety system that, safety procedure this. It is definitely disheartening to read about this incident, especially so short after the Fukushima accident. There are so many safety features implemented in nuclear reactors that perhaps people are overlooking about what to do after an accident. This incident will not only damage the environment (no more fresh sushi) but it will also damage the reputation of nuclear energy in Malaysia, at least what ever is left of it.

Source: BusinessWeek